


Danganronpa: Disasters of Hope

by hijacket



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 14:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13078470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hijacket/pseuds/hijacket
Summary: Sixteen students from across Hope's Peak Academy's history wake up to find themselves in a strange building. To escape, they have to kill someone and get away with it. You know where this is going.





	Danganronpa: Disasters of Hope

I'm lazy. I admit it, I'm lazy. I never did anything I didn't feel up for, and I wasn't really up for much. I do what I have to, when I have to, and nothing else. Not very "Ultimate" of me, right? Sure, I had a decent amount of talent, and I'm fairly young for my field of choice, but all I really did was take an opportunity once it presented itself. Still, the admission letter said it clear as day: 

"Hana Oroshi, 

We at Hope's Peak Academy would be honored for you to attend our school as the Ultimate Songwriter. We believe your talent in writing and composing to be truly remarkable, and your presence to be an incredible boon to our campus environment and research alike. We eagerly await your response, 

Hope's Peak Academy Headmaster,  
Jin Kirigiri." 

It was hard to believe, but there it was. There wasn't a high schooler in the country who didn't long to attend Hope's Peak, a government-funded school of privilege for only the most talented of students to attend. There was an undeniable appeal to the title of "Ultimate," one only given to around 16 students a year. And, now, I was one of them. Writing hit songs at fifteen years old was enough of an accomplishment to warrant that, I suppose. 

I accepted, of course, but not for any of the usual reasons. Most Hope's Peak freshman, I assume, come to the school for their state-of the art facilities, their expansive, beautiful campus, and their far-from-overblown "guarantee for success." As for me, I was attracted to the easily-missable line of text on their official website stating that, "classroom attendance would not be mandatory." I am, as I said, lazy. 

And so, I went. I still wasn't quite sure I was up to Hope's Peak Academy's high standards, but that wasn't going to stop me from having a good first day. It's not like I was planning to spend much of it outside of my dorm, anyway. If I got lucky, maybe I'd make a friend or two. If I got really lucky, I might hit it off with some cute girl, but I wasn't the type to get my hopes up. I was never all that lucky, really. If I was, I wouldn't be here as the "Ultimate Songwriter." And... well, I definitely wouldn't be in my present situation. 

Looking up at the school's main building, it really did feel big. I was just some random girl, only set apart from everyone other random girl in the country by my above-average ability in a job that wasn't nearly as glamorous as people often thought it was. When faced with a situation like this, it was hard not to feel inadequate, but I tried to push that feeling aside. Surely, everyone felt like this their first day at Hope's Peak, right? Pushing those feelings aside, I stepped inside the building. 

I awoke in a strange room. 

It was sudden. I wasn't struck over the head, and I wasn't chloroformed. It was just... one second I was walking into Hope's Peak, and the next second I was here. It was like waking up from a dream, if maybe a little more sudden. _Considering my position_ , I thought, taking note of the desk I had found myself laying on, _that might be exactly what happened._

"You weren't dreaming," a voice from behind me clarified. "I have a lot of experience with dreams, and what you just experienced wasn't a dream." 

It wasn't until I heard the voice that I really took in my surroundings. I was in a classroom, but not any classroom I'd ever been in. The logical conclusion was that I was in Hope's Peak, but for some reason that answer didn't feel right. The classroom didn't look anything like what I imagined a room in a "government-funded school of privilege" to look like. It was... grimy. Not explicitly dirty, but arguably worse because of it. _Am I even in Hope's Peak Academy?_ I wondered. _Was... was Hope's Peak Academy just part of my dream?_

"Like I said," the voice repeated, "You weren't dreaming." 

Even as I got up from the desk, I couldn't stop thinking about it. This classroom looked like the sort of thing you'd find in a school with half the funding of Hope's Peak Academy. No; not a half, a quarter. Maybe an eighth? Either way, I wasn't in Hope's Peak. _Maybe... maybe this was where I really went to school. Maybe I had that dream about Hope's Peak Academy to cope with the shitty school I was stuck in._

"For the last time, it wasn't a dream." 

Oh yeah, and there was a girl behind me. 

She was lying on a desk the same way I was, and it was clear she wasn't planning to move from that spot. If it hadn't been for her speaking earlier, I would've assumed she was sleeping. I couldn't make out her face courtesy of her position, but even without it her looks were clearly distinctive. Her purple hair, while short, was extremely messy; it would clearly get in her eyes, were she to get up from the desk and look around. Her outfit, while fairly simple, was odd nonetheless. It was a long, sky-blue dress that covered all of her skin from the neck-down; her sleeves were especially long, extending a few inches from where her arms stopped. She gave off an air of mystery, despite her simple design sense. As I gave her a once-over, she raised her head, one eyebrow raised. "You're not going to question how I knew you thought you were dreaming?" she asked. 

Now that she mentioned it, it was sort of weird. "What, are you some kind of psychic or something?" I replied. 

"No, that was just a lucky guess. I can predict the future, though." 

"Predict the future? So, then, you're...?" 

"Wakana Saito, the Ultimate Prophet," she said, having clearly rehearsed this many times. "Every night, I dream of disasters to come. Entire civilizations have been saved by my prophecies, while other have been doomed trying to fight them. Truly, the arm of fate is a mysterious one... or whatever." 

Prophet... I thought to myself. I never gave the supernatural too much thought, but I always kept my mind open. And, hey, if she was recognized by Hope's Peak Academy, then... 

"Wait. You're the Ultimate Prophet?" I asked. 

"Yep." 

"So... you went to Hope's Peak." 

"Yep." 

That was definitely weird. I wasn't any kind of Hope's Peak fanatic or anything, but I did make sure to look up my classmates beforehand, and this girl... wasn't one of them. Still, she looked the same age as me, so how...? 

"Don't look at me," she replied, somewhat defensively. "I'm sure the bear'll explain everything." With that cryptic remark, she dropped her head back to the desk. 

"Wait, what bear?" I couldn't help asking, but it was no use. She was fast asleep. 

Sighing, I found myself with no options but to leave the room. My memories of Hope's Peak hadn't faded; Wakana was right about that not being a dream. But... if it wasn't a dream, then what am I doing here? 

The hallway didn't contain any of the answers I was looking for. It had the same oppressive atmosphere as the classroom, even if it was bit fairly large. Looking back at the door I exited out of, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a wooden door, with the same sort of run-down look as the rest of the building. A sign above the door read "Classroom 5." 

"Classroom 5?" I muttered to myself. "I understand the classroom part, but why the 5?" Glancing at the other doors, none of them seemed to belong to other classrooms. 

"If yer lookin' fer an answer to that, try the window," came a voice from farther down the hallway. Sure enough, I looked out the window and... 

"Huh. We're five stories up," I said. 

Wait. 

Five stories up? 

"Hey... hey, where the hell are we?" I asked – no, more like shouted. It hadn't hit me up until now, but I really had no idea where I was. Where was I? Looking out the window, the scenery wasn't familiar in the slightest. It was... some sort of dark, run-down cityscape, nothing like the shiny, futuristic sheen of Hope's Peak Academy. I was used to the city, but nothing like the dirty inner streets I found myself on. Seriously, where the hell was I? 

"Yeah, we all felt that way. Yer the last one to wake up, y'know. 'Cept fer that prophet girl, I guess." My eyes turned to the man leaning on the wall. He was dressed in all camo, to the point that I would've missed him had he not spoken up. He wore heavy looking combat boots, and a thick leather glove around his left hand. His dirty-blonde hair peeked out over the loose-fitting visor that shielded his eyes, and his face was worn despite his apparent youth. I didn't notice any of that at the time, however, as my eyes were much sooner drawn to... 

"Oh, uh, don't mind Shannon here," he said, gesturing towards the MASSIVE FUCKING RIFLE he was carrying. "Can't really survive without 'er." He put on a reassuring smile, but that didn't stop me from staring. Was something like this even allowed? 

"So, uh... s'pose I should introduce myself," he said, trying to change the subject. "The name's Rikuto Kawaguchi, and I'm the Ultimate Hunter. Me and Shannon've travelled all over the world lookin' fer game, at least until the day Hope's Peak contacted us with an offer to settle down. And to think, we were just a day from gettin' back on the road 'fore we were taken here. Bad luck, is what that is." 

I had a hard time focusing on his explanation, to be honest. I've had some... bad experiences with guns in the past, so I couldn't really get comfortable near him without thinking about how easily he could shoot and kill me. Still, he seemed nice... 

"Hey, uh, just to confirm something," I asked hesitantly. "You don't... shoot humans with that thing, do you?" The question was genuine, but Rikuto only laughed. 

"Don't you worry yer pretty little head, young lady. This here gun is fer game only, so you shouldn't have to worry." He smiled, and for the first time since I noticed his gun, I felt comfortable. "Anyway, ya should probably go introduce yerself to everyone else here. They're all out exploring the school, but they shouldn't be too far." 

I turned away as I waved Rikuto goodbye, but he interrupted me before I could leave. "Hey, uh, don't think I caught yer name!" 

"Hana Oroshi!" I said, not looking back. "I'm the Ultimate Songwriter!" To be honest, I still kind of wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Despite that, though, I didn't feel too bad coming off of that conversation. If anyone was going to be handling a gun here, I'd rather it be him than someone crazy. 

Even saying that, I was quick to enter the nearest room. I probably wouldn't have been so quick if I knew what I would see, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. 

The first thing that happened upon entering the room was that I lost my footing. As it turned out, the floor of this room was not, in fact, level with the rest of the floor, but had a foot or two of recess. Making up for that recess, however, were balls. Lots and lots of balls. The floor was entirely hidden behind layer upon layer of rubber balls, turning the entire room into something you'd see in a Chuck-E-Cheese's or some similar hokey kid's establishment. I'm not really sure what a giant ball pit was doing in what seemed like an otherwise normal building, and, to be honest, I'd rather not ask. 

The second thing that happened upon entering the room was... well, I'm not entirely sure how I would describe it, but I think the guy watching the situation eagerly from the side said it best. 

"Catfight! Catfight!" he shouted, cheering on the two girls wrestling in the center of the room. It was a rough, decidedly unglamorous, and admittedly kind of hot battle for supremacy, or whatever it was they were fighting about. As interested as I was, my conscience ultimately got the better of me, and I had to intervene. 

"Hey, hey, cut it out!" I yelled, striding through the rubber balls (a difficult task, considering that they reached up to my waist) to pull the two girls apart. Getting a better look at them, one had a large, golden-blonde ponytail that went from the helmet it stuck out of to just below her knees. She had on a loose-fitting, sleeveless, red and white shirt, matched with a similarly colored skirt. The other was dressed in a sparkly pink leotard, accentuated by a pair of sparkly fake wings – or, at least, I thought they were fake. Given the situation, I wouldn't put a human with wings outside the realm of probability. She had what looked like a rapier sheathed on her waist; she certainly had the fantasy look down pat. Her hot pink hair was done in a pixie cut, and her face was perfectly crafted, like a porcelain doll – a porcelain doll that was pouting like a child. 

"Let me go, you heathen!" the pink-haired girl whined, her face red. "Do you even know who I am?" 

"Fuck that!" the girl in the helmet butted in. "Do you know who I am?" 

"Yeah!" the guy on the sidelines agreed. "Do you know who these lovely ladies are?" 

"No, I don't!" I shouted back, somewhat overwhelmed by the hostility. "Do you guys even know who each other are?" 

They all seemed to pause as if taken aback by the question. Ultimately, it was the guy who spoke first. "Well, obviously, those two know me. Why else would they be fighting if it weren't over the affections of Shouhei Yamauchi, the Ultimate Gol-" 

"I fought her 'cause she was lookin' at me funny!" The helmet girl said, cutting Shouhei off. "I was all like 'you wanna start some shit?' And she was all like 'by my pride as a fairy I shan't decline a request to duel' or something like that and then we just started goin' at it! I was winning, y'know, 'til little miss ahoge over her pulled us apart." The girl continued to talk a mile a minute, but something she mentioned had caught my attention. 

"What do you mean, fairy?" I asked, turning to the pink-haired girl. She scoffed, turning her nose up at me. 

"Do you mean to say you haven't heard of me, you uneducated swine? In that case, listen well, for I am Starshy Sparklewing, 13th fairy princess of the Bramadian Empire. While my accomplishments are many, I am currently attending this academy under the title of Ultimate Fencer." Despite her short stature, she radiated confidence, and her boasting seemed genuine. Either this girl is telling the truth, I thought to myself, or she's just really delusional. 

"So?" She said, staring at me with puzzled eyes. "Do you wish to duel? Surely there is no other reason for one such as you to be in my noble presence?" As she said this, she unsheathed the rapier she held to her side – an actual, real-life sword. 

"Uh, no thanks," I told her, scooting back a bit. "Anyways, uh, my name is Ha..." 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, me first!" The helmeted girl said, interrupting yet another introduction. "I'm Hikaru Takeshi, the Ultimate Rollerblader! Unparalleled in speed, dexterity, and asskickery, I'm the girl everyone's talkin' about!" 

Explain to me why I haven't heard of you, then, was what I was tempted to say, but I kept that to myself. 

"I haven't taken these babies off in years!" she said, pointing towards a foot she had picked up from under the rubber balls, or, more accurately, the roller blades she wore on them. "Walkin' is fuckin' lame, y'know what I mean? Why walk when you can fly down the streets, feel the wind in your hair, grind on any rail you can find? I'm tellin' ya, nothin's more satisfyin ' than the honks of jealous car-goers as they see you speeding down the sidewalk! Plus, you have the advantage of..." 

I quickly realized that, almost as much as Hikaru loved to roller skate, she loved to talk. For about five minutes, I struggled to follow along with her motor-mouthed ramblings about the advantages of roller skates over ordinary shoes. Eventually I just gave up, and turned to leave the room. I didn't get very far, however, before my path was blocked by sidelines guy. 

"Hey! Don't believe you've introduced yourself yet," he said, obviously throwing his voice to sound deeper than it really was. He wore a green polo shirt tucked into clean white khaki pants, both clearly being worn for the first time, alongside a pair of fingerless gloves. His blond hair was carefully styled with a little too much hair gel, and he overall gave off the appearance of someone who was trying much too hard. What didn't match with his clean-cut appearance, however, was his sleazy smile, a painful expression of forced confidence that showcased his lack of it more than anything. "I bet you're just dying to get to know me, right?" 

Sighing, I finished my introduction. "Hana, eh?" he said, nodding slowly. "And you say you're a songwriter? In that case, what say you introduce me to a few celebrities? I'm pretty famous myself, but there are some people I never got the chance to meet." 

"Um, I... don't actually know too many celebrities, not on a personal level at least. I mostly just give my songs to the label, and-" 

"Oh! How rude of me! I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" 

"Actually, you have. You're... you're... Um..." I snapped my fingers, struggling to recall the name I'd heard just five minutes earlier. 

"Shouhei Yamauchi, known worldwide as the Ultimate Golfer! Though, I've always preferred the title of Ultimate Ladies Man. Say, what's your sign? I'm a Gemini, myself." 

"Uh... Libra..." I said, backing off slowly. Hikaru and Starshy seemed to have resumed their fight, and Shouhei would likely get caught up watching once he noticed, which I hoped would distract him long enough that I could make a break for it. Still, he continued to stare at me, beads of sweat starting to form on his face. 

"So... uh.. call me!" he shouted, as I began to close the door behind me. I could vaguely hear a "nailed it!" from behind the pastel door, and I shuffled out of earshot before he could resume his calls of "catfight! catfight!" Letting out a sigh, I realized more than ever how quickly I wanted to leave this place. 

Still, though, more introductions were in order. I wasn't sure how many people there were left, but I hoped it wasn't many. The average class size for Hope's Peak was sixteen, but, as far as I knew, these guys weren't in any of my classes. Pushing those mysteries aside, I entered the door across the hall. 

As soon as I entered the room, my eyes were assaulted with stuff. Lots of stuff. Knick knacks, trinkets, and gadgets of all kind covered the spacious room in cardboard box after cardboard box. Like the building it made its home in, there was no internal theme between the various items stored away; a rusty watering can could be found in the same box as a first-aid kit, an empty packet of gum, and a dirty magazine from the 1970's. There was more useless junk packed into this one room than I'd ever seen in my life; if there was anything worth finding in there, it would take a lot of digging to find. 

And yet, there was someone digging anyway. 

"Binoculars, boombox, dictionary, paper mache bigfoot..." he listed off methodically, pulling out the contents of the carboard box one by one. His short, pale brown hair didn't attract too much attention, and the ordinary school uniform he was wearing didn't help matters. He simply looked, for lack of a better word, plain. _Maybe this one'll be normal..._ I thought to myself, only half sarcastically. 

"Um, excuse me?" I said, hoping to break his concentration. "My name is Hana Oroshi. I'm the Ultimate Songwriter. Do you mind introducing yourself?" 

He turned towards me, staring up at me with quizzical eyes. They were the same pale shade of brown as his hair, and his faded pupils mixed with his wide-eyed expression made him like somewhat like a ghost. As he continued to stare at me, I realized that I might've spoken too soon in assuming this guy was going to be normal. 

"Kouta Mori. Ultimate Lucky Student," he finally said, not breaking his stare. He spoke with an odd inflection, as if he was sounding out each word for the first time. Maybe he was just slow? Suddenly, he smiled. 

"Hello!" he said, the look of mystery gone from his face. As strange as Kouta was, his genuine smile was hard to resist, and I soon found myself smiling as well. For a few awkward moments, we just smiled at each other, no one saying a word. 

"Well, bye!" he said suddenly, before turning back to his box. I guess the conversation was over? I didn't learn much about Kouta, beyond his talent and his name. Still, I somehow felt satisfied with the seven-word conversation. 

There was little else to find in the room, and if there was Kouta would probably find it eventually. For the third time today, I exited a room with no answers and a lot more questions. I was already getting tired of introductions, a formality I had intended to bypass by looking up my classmates' names and talents. The average class size at Hope's Peak was sixteen, but that didn't matter much when none of these people were in the same class, right? With some luck, I'd be done with introductions soon, we'd all find an exit, and we'd go back to our not-so-ordinary lives. 

Unfortunately, Kouta was the Ultimate Lucky Student. Not me.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been planning this thing for way too long holy shit. Tbh it's probably better to wait until I write a few more chapters before I post this but I really just wanna get this out. Here we have a little under half of our characters, with more to come next chapter (including a familiar face). Introductions ahoy!


End file.
